


Just Friends

by orphan_account



Series: The Mermaid Theory [4]
Category: Glee
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-05-29
Updated: 2011-05-29
Packaged: 2017-10-19 21:21:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 897
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/205334
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A short prequel to The Mermaid Theory in Daniel's POV.</p><p>Platonic friendship, they’re doing it wrong.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Just Friends

“So how was  _Rent_?” Daniel asked, carefully balancing his phone on his shoulder so he could keep playing his game.

“Oh man, it was so great. I mean, it was just community theater, so there wasn’t much to the sets or costumes, but  _Rent_  doesn’t need much, you know? A couple of the actors had really great voices though, so that more than made up for it.”

“Uh huh.” It seemed an appropriate place to chime in, but he didn’t want to pause the game if he didn’t have to.

“And Kurt had never seen it live before, you know? So he kept singing along under his breath, but this couple in front of us could still hear him and kept giving us dirty looks and Kurt just glared right back at them. It was hilarious.”

Blaine burst into involuntary laughter, apparently just from the memory, and Daniel finally pressed the start button on his PS3 controller. 

“So why haven’t I met this hilarious guy yet?” Daniel asked. He’s not jealous, not really. It’s just kind of weird how  _present_  this Kurt guy is in his boyfriend’s life. One day he had just started popping up in conversation and now every time he talked to Blaine, he seemed to have just gotten off the phone with Kurt or just gotten back from Lima, or had to tell him about this hysterical thing Kurt had said earlier. He didn’t begrudge Blaine making new friends, but Kurt was just one friend and Blaine seemed to be kind of fixated lately.

“Uh, I don’t know. Probably because he lives so far away? Being friends with him is costing me a small fortune in gas money.” 

He didn’t want to read anything into it, but he could practically see Blaine doing that thing where he rubs the back of his neck when he wants to run his hand through his hair, but can’t because of the gel. It’s a nervous gesture and though his tone is light, Daniel is almost positive he isn’t imagining the discomfort in his words.

“I bet,” Daniel said, matching Blaine’s light tone. “You should really ask him to drive down to Westerville every once in a while. Or at least have him meet you in Bellefontaine or something.” See, he’s not jealous. He’s being helpful.

“Bellefontaine? Really? That town is tiny. I doubt they even have a Starbucks,” Blaine said with a laugh.

“Maybe not, but they have the World’s Shortest Street. You could go see that.” Something nice and non-date-like.

“What? How do you even know that?”

“Wikipedia. I got bored in Psych yesterday and well, I can’t remember exactly how I ended up there, but I did and it’s true. McKinley Street in Bellefontaine, Ohio is the World’s Shortest Street.” Learning that had been just barely more interesting than listening to his professor’s lecture.

“Huh. Kurt goes to McKinley High.”

“Well, half of Ohio is named after the guy, so I can’t say I’m surprised. How is the poor baby gay faring in that shithole, anyway?” He asked. No matter how not-jealous he is of his friendship with Blaine, no one deserved to be assaulted daily just because they’re gay.

“I don’t know,” Blaine admits with a sigh. “I think it’s just more of the same, you know? It’s hard to tell. He was so open in the beginning, but now I think he just wants to pretend like nothing’s happening. Every once in a while I’ll get a call from him and I’m pretty sure he’s crying, but he refuses to talk about it. I just wish I could be there for him, you know? I just want to give him a hug and tell him it’ll all be okay.”

Daniel felt his lip curl involuntarily and forced his face back to neutrality. He was not jealous. They were friends. Kurt  _needed_  a friend right now. There was nothing wrong with hugging; friends hugged all the time.

“Well why don’t you invite him down to Columbus next weekend? I really do want to meet him and it might be good for him to get out of town for a little bit; take his mind off things.” Maybe if Kurt was his friend too, he wouldn’t have these doubts gnawing at the back of his mind.

“Yeah. That’s – that’s a good idea,” Blaine said.

The discomfort was definitely back in his voice and Daniel glared at the paused video game, since the person he was actually mad at wasn’t present.  _Just friends, my ass_ , he thought.

“I’ll ask him the next time I talk to him and I’ll let you know, okay?” 

“Cool, sounds good. Listen, I have to go. I need to get back to studying or I am definitely going to fail my midterm. I’ll talk to you tomorrow?” Assuming Blaine wasn’t busy Skyping with Kurt, or whatever.

“Yeah, of course! I love you, babe.”

And damn. It was pretty much impossible to stay mad at Blaine when he said those words because each and every time, Daniel got a goofy, lovesick smile on his face.

“I love you, too. Bye,” he said and hung up. 

Tossing his phone onto the bed next to him, he resumed his game. If he maybe pretended that all of the enemies on the screen were named Kurt, well, no one needed to know about that.


End file.
